Arrow of Glass
by Cress070
Summary: Akaterine, known as Kat to her friends, is having her typical summer. Music, reading, and an upcoming vacation in NYC. Until one fateful day, string is cut, a home lost, and a scandal spanning millennia is revealed. Soon, Kat is caught up in a mystery that goes far past the gods, and far past anything she ever dreamed of. Rated T for some death and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, humans! This is a fanfic that I have just started, but I have plans for this one. This is set in the times after the war, so all that's cleared up. Most characters from the books won't be there, but I hope I can make this work. What I have so far is not perfected yet, so I will probably be going back and making a few edits. Read and enjoy, and review/favorite/follow!**

 **xoxo,**

 **Cress070**

"Akaterine Sirena Dracos! Get down here this minute!"

Kat groaned, and popped out her earbuds, hearing the faint sounds of the Beatles still coming from the tinny speakers. She swung her legs off her bed, maneuvering out of her small attic room, and stubbed her toe on the suitcase sitting by the rickety stairs.

"Skata!" Kat hopped around, in that specific excruciating pain that comes from whacking your toe on a suitcase.

"Akaterine! Let's go!"

"Coming…" Kat said halfheartedly, placing her foot back down on the floor. She could tell her dad was mad. He only ever called her by her full name when he was angry. Her report card had probably come, and with a case of ADHD and a fair dose of dyslexia, the grades were almost decidedly going to be awful. Not to mention that her dad was pretty high-strung right now, what with preparing for their trip to New York tomorrow.

She trudged down the stairs, which were sunbleached from the skylight throwing down sunbeams.

"What is it, dad?" she asked, coming into the kitchen. He waved an official-looking piece of paper over his head. Just as she had guessed. Her report card.

"I can explain…" she began.

"Kat, I don't need an explanation," her dad began. "It's not your fault." he waved the piece of paper in the air again, and this time Kat saw that he was gesturing to their small kitchen window, which now had a hole. Shattered glass had been swept into the sink, and something was on the kitchen table, something that Kat had never seen before.

A shining bow, made of something that seemed otherworldly. As Kat stared, she heard a voice, a whisper, calling her in.

 _Éna vélos temachízetai mésa apó éna plégma oneíron,  
Kai énas gígantas me tin anása tou angélou sfyrízei to skotádi,  
O íroás mou tóra den eínai o chrónos sas, allá eínai ólo kai pio kontá…_

Kat felt a hand on her shoulder, but it didn't matter. She had to listen to this, voice, because it was important. It had the answers.

 _Viasýni, paidí, i mitéra sou periménei,  
Pyrovoloún eftheía kai alítheia,  
Vreíte tis apantíseis,  
Kai den échoun kamía ntropí,  
Giatí den xérete ti dýnamí sas…_

She reached out and touched the bow. Suddenly, like a rubber band snapping, the world was clear. She could see for the first time. She saw the grain of the wood in her stairs, the veins in a fly's wings, and the tears in the eyes of her father.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

He looked up, shoulders shaking.

"Kat, we need to leave. Now."

"What-"

"Get your bags. We need to go."

"But-"

"Now, Akaterine!"

Kat let go of the bow, noticing how everything dulled. It had stopped whispering now, and she wondered what had come over her as she raced up the stairs. She grabbed the suitcase that had plagued her toe, and started shoving stuff in. Shorts, shirts, all her underwear, socks, sunscreen, her keys, her scrapbook, her comics, a deck of cards, her headphones, iPod… she surveyed her room, and was about to leave when she raced back in and grabbed her stuffed dragon, Foosh.

Ket raced down the stairs, and found her dad already there, waiting for her.

"Into the car."

"But why-"

"Not now. We need to go while we still have some time. Take the bow and quiver, Kat."

He left to warm up their old Ford pickup truck.

Kat grabbed the bow and quiver, relishing the way the world instantly sharpened as her hand closed around its grip. She slung the quiver over her shoulder and raced out to the car.

"Akaterine? Is that you?" Ms. Espada, Kat's ancient neighbor, was sitting in a rocking chair on her porch, knitting something with long silver needles. Ms. Espada had been around as long as Kat could remember, and was like a grandmother to her.

Kat walked up her porch steps.

"I'm here, Ms. Espada, but I have to leave."

She grasped her hands, which were leathery and shaking.

"Be safe, young Akaterine," Ms. Espada said, "And never attempt to cheat fate."

The old lady took the last thread of her yarn in one hand, huge scissors in another, and snipped the wool. Something about that sharp _chiiiink!_ as the scissors cut the wool was chilling, final almost.

"Kat! Get away from her!" her dad yelled. Kat was shocked to hear the quiver of terror on his voice. He ran over to them and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from Ms. Espada.

"What did she do?" he asked.

"Nothing, dad, really, she just told me to be careful, and to not cheat fate."

"And what did she do with the wool?"

"She cut it, because-"

"Hurry. We have less time then I thought."

He got into their grey pickup truck, and slammed his door. Kat got into the passenger side, and tucked her backpack under her seat.

The car revved up, and they shot out of their driveway, careening around the tight street corners of their small greek neighborhood.

"Dad, where are we going? You have to tell me, now."

He sighed, and shook his head.

"Somewhere I should have taken you, a long, long, time ago. I just wasn't ready, and I'm still not. Kat, I'm going to tell you a story, and I need you to listen."

 **So that's what I've got! I will probably do a few quick updates and then things will slow down, but this is it!**

 **Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Helloooo! I'm super sorry, I haven't updated in ages... This has been harder to write then I thought. I keep hitting walls where it takes me ages to type a sentence that isn't ehhhh. But here is the next part! And if you have any ideas about what kind of quest Kat should go on, please comment! I can't think of anything.**

 **xoxo**

 **Cress**

"Once there was a goddess, and she was as radiant as the sun, and as dark and the moon. She had vowed never to marry, and never to have children. Her name was Artemis. All through the ages, she denied the love of men, mortal and not, until one day she met a man named Maximus Dracos."

Kat tried to interrupt, to tell him that that was him, and it couldn't be right, but he wouldn't stop.

"Artemis fell madly in love with him, and he with her, until one day they had a child, a little girl destined for a life in which she would blaze up as defiant as a struck match in the darkness and then be snuffed out. Artemis was horrorstruck, for she had broken her vow, and fled, leaving the man with his little daughter, whom he named Akaterine, as pure as the moon. One day the man was going about his business when the window shattered and on his table landed a bow and quiver, identical to the ones Artemis had when he had met her in the woods. He knew it was time to leave, and so he did. He took his child to a camp, where she would be safe, and meet new friends, and the all lived happily ever after."

Kat didn't know what to say. This was her story, and apparently her mother was Artemis. Her mom was a goddess. She was part human, part deity. And she really didn't like that part about being snuffed out. But hey, cool!

"So, you're saying that I'm part goddess, and I'm going to be a hero?" she asked her dad.

"Not, me, the Oracle of Delphi. Look, Kat, I love you. You know that right?"

Kat nodded.

"So I have to leave you. So you'll be safe. I can take you to the camp, and then I can't go on. You can build a whole new life there, and live with your kind. There are others like you."

"I don't want to leave you, dad."

He cleared his throat gruffly.

"And neither do I. But now that you know what you are, I can't keep you safe anymore."

They swept off the highway in silence, and ran over the rumble strips leading into the airport.

The sun beat down on the roof of their car, and Kat could see the ground shimmering, her vision distorted by the waves of heat trailing up from the asphalt. It had always been hot on the small Greek island she called home, but she had never seen the air distorted quite this much. Shapes were starting to form, reminding her of a heatstroke she had had when she was five. She hoped it wouldn't happen again.

Kat gazed across the asphalt, noticing one of the waves of heat forming into something unrecognizable, something vaguely humanoid. Kat shook her head, and the mystical shape disappeared into the air.

"What was that?" her dad asked.  
"Nothing…" Kat didn't want to worry him. They got out of the car, and heaved their baggage out of the trunk.

"When will we be back?" she asked. He sighed, and scratched his cheek.

"Kat, I don't know." he said. He looked at her, and then, as if he couldn't bear to meet her gaze, looked down again.

"Maybe never."

"What? But I- I…" Kat stuttered.

"I'm sorry Kat, but we have to go. You'll be safe, trust me. And maybe someday, you can come back."

"Okay."

The airport was busy, and as they went through customs, the lines held them up. Kat assumed that the bow and arrows wouldn't be let through, but the customs agent's gazes slid right over them. They boarded their flight as gate 12, and soon the plane was off the runway. Kat and her dad found seats right next to the emergency exits, because her dad had never liked flying. Next to them was a beautiful young woman, who looked at her ruggedly handsome father as if he was a snack.

"Dad, where are we going?" Kat asked once the plane was off the runway.

"Long island, new York." her father replied, not meeting her gaze."It's about a 13 hour flight, no stops."

Kat sighed, and took out her book, Starclimber. She cracked the spine, and lost herself in a daring adventure, with a scandal and a spaceship and a journey beyond the skies…

Kat woke up. She had fallen asleep reading. The time on her iPod read 4:38 pm. Fifteen minutes to landing time. Her eyes were sore, and she had a slight headache from reading for so long without a break. The young woman whom Kat had found so intimidating earlier was now eyeing her.

Her hair suddenly caught on fire, and became flames. Kat gasped and blinked. The woman forced a smile that looked more vicious then friendly, and her hair returned to normal.

"What are you, like, reading?" she asked. Immediately Kat hated her voice. Is was nasal and annoying. It reminded her of the girls who teased her at recess when she read on the swings at school.

"Um, it's called Starclimber, by um…" The woman had unbuckled her seatbelt and was leaning towards Kat. She sniffed, and her perfectly glossed lips curled into a smile.

"A halfblood!" she hissed. "I thought I smelled one."

The woman's hair turned to flames again as she stood up. Her legs made odd noises as she walked towards Kat. One was a donkey's and the other metal.

"Wha-" Kat gasped. "Dad!"

But her father was cowering in terror.

"I'm sorry, Kat, I'm sorry, I can't help you I'm sorry. Use the bow." He cowered in terror, overcome with fear.

Kat did the only thing she could think of. She took her weapon and ran. The passengers screamed as she dashed by, the fire donkey lady in hot pursuit. Out of pure instinct, Kat nocked an arrow and spun around to face donkey lady, her bowstring taut.

"Stop!" Kat yelled. "Bad fire donkey lady!"

She hissed. "I am an _empousa,_ servant of Hecate! And you are my cocktail!"

Kat released the arrow. It whistled through the air, and lodged in her chest. The empousa looked down, shocked at the beautiful arrow sticking through her ribcage, and then disintegrated.

Kat was left standing alone in the aisle, with an audience of horrified passengers.

Fortunately, the captain made a landing announcement and Kat rushed to her seat to get her father and her baggage and was first off the plane.

It was colder in New York, but not by much. Her dad walked straight towards the busy road outside the airport, where Kay could see a line of taxis waiting for passengers. But he walked straight past them.

"Dad? Where are we going?" Kat asked, but he didn't answer. He had pulled something small out of his pocket. It glinted golden in the sunlight as he threw it onto the ground.

"I'm just getting us a taxi, Kat." he said, and miraculously, the coin sunk into the earth as with a screeching of wheels, a taxi the appeared to be formed from smoke screeched up onto the curb.

"Uh…" she whispered. "What. Dad?"

"Don't worry, Kat, we're almost safe. Hop in."

Kat reluctantly obliged, and swung open the backseat door. It was far more solid then it had seemed.

Her dad leaned into the front seat, where three women were sitting.

"Camp Half-Blood, please." he said. The woman in the driver's seat turned around, and Kat squeaked. She had only one eye, revolving in its socket like it had a mind of its own, and her skin was grey. Much like the car, she appeared to be made of smoke. Kat was maxed out on weirdness for the day. She had already been torn from her home, had some fate lady cut her string of life, killed a fire donkey lady, and now she was sitting in a cab made of smoke in the middle of New York. She passed out.

 **So yes! Kat is a daughter of Artemis! And I'm thinking of killing her in the end, but who knows.**

 **(Reviews anyone?)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hellooooo! Happy Monday everybody! It's currently 7:06 am where I am, and I'm writing fanfiction instead of sleeping like I could be. My hands are sore from typing. I swear, I wrote this for like an hour straight (Except for when I lost all wifi. That was a sad time.) So after much labour, here's the chapter! And if you have any ideas for the quest Kat will be going on with her new friends, PM me? I have zero ideas.**

"What should we do with her?"

A voice cut through the silence of Kat's peaceful world. She had been very tired, and had had the strangest dream about a bow, a plane ride, a goddess, and a lady with fire for hair. Kat had been more then happy to sleep, but now she was being unwillingly woken.

"One minute, dad," she mumbled.

"Oh, she's delirious. I'll get some ambrosia."

Kat dragged her most unwilling eyelids open. She was looking into the face of a boy, about fifteen years old, same as Kat. He had dark brown hair and a sharp jawline. His eyes were a stunning grey. Normally. Kat wouldn't think of grey as stunning, but his were. She noticed, annoyed, that he was very handsome. This would be troublesome.

"Hello? Are you awake?" he asked. Kat found this a very stupid question. Yes, she was awake. Her eyes were open. She was moving.

"Did I look asleep? And where's my dad?" she said, and immediately regretted it, for the boy's attractive features saddened.

"No, I just- nevermind. Here-" he tucked a pillow behind her back, moving her into an upright position.

"Your dad went home. He said to tell you he was safe, and not to worry."

"Thanks. And I can stand," Kat said, and did so. The boy looked embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry. I just thought- Well, most demigods who are brought to us unconscious are not in good shape. I'm Jeremy."

He shook her hand, and she willed her palms not to sweat.

"Akaterine, but call me Kat. Everyone does."

"Good, so that's done with! I hate introductions."

Kat laughed.

"Me too. So… could you explain… everything?"

He nodded, looking like he was about to launch into a three hour monologue. Which, Kat guessed, he could very well do.

"So, basically, we are half-bloods. Children of the gods. Half god, half human. I'm a son of Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. You'll be claimed tonight, because you are over the age of thirteen. Follow me."

"Okay. Where are we going?" Kat asked. Hopefully it wasn't some sort of skill-testing thing. She had zero talent.

"Just a tour of the camp. Over here's the-"

"OH MY GOSH IS THAT A FIRE WALL AND AN ARCHERY RANGE AND A LAKE AND WAS THAT A FLYING HORSE?!" Kat interrupted a bit too exuberantly. She laughed out loud, because unless she was hallucinating, all of those things were there.

"Yep! That's our climbing wall, which shakes and spouts lava. You'll get to try it in the camp activities. The archery is an optional class you can take if you find you have an aptitude for it, and the canoe lake is a canoe lake. Watch out for the nymphs. New campers sometimes get scared first time they see them. And those are pegasi."

They had walked to a pavilion by now, on a hill that overlooked all of the camp. It was full of greek columns, but had no roof. There were twelve tables. Kat assumed it was a demigod cafeteria.

"Those are the cabins," Jeremy said. "You'll be staying in the one that matches your godly parent. Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Athena, Demeter, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hephaestus, and Dionysus. Dionysus used to be our camp director, as a punishment from Zeus, but his 100 years ran out. Chiron does that now."

"Okay. So this is a camp for children of the gods, where we train and do dangerous but also fun things and we… yeah?"

"You got it. Everyone should be in their cabins now, that's why it's so deserted, but dinner should be any second now. Then we have the campfire, where you should be claimed."

Right on cue, a bell rang. Kat flinched as a stream of teenagers all began pouring out of the cabins. They were all headed towards the dining pavilion, which was where she was. One girl with silvery blonde hair broke out of her line, coming from the Apollo cabin, and ran towards Kat and Jeremy.

"Jer! Why is she out of bed? I TOLD YOU-" she had reached them by now, and was gasping for breath.

"I told you that if a demigod is brought in unconscious that she is not okay and she needs to stay in bed!"

"Um… I'm fine…" Kat said, hoping to calm the girl down.

"Oh. Are you really? Well, good for you." she looked around. Everyone was to the pavilion by now, and they were the only ones standing.

"Here, you can sit with me. I'm Vanida."

"Akaterine. Call me Kat."

Vanida led her over to the Apollo table, which was full of campers who all had blonde hair.

"Has Jeremy given you the explanation yet?" Vanida asked. Kat nodded.

"It sounds awesome. I really want to try the archery class."

"Oooh, that could be a sign that you're a daughter of Apollo! I hope you're in my cabin."

"Isn't Artemis also the goddess of archery? Why isn't there anyone at her table?" Kat asked casually. She wasn't sure if she could reveal her parentage, or even if her mom would claim her. Hopefully she would.

"Artemis is a maiden goddess, so she has no kids. None ever. She does have her hunters though, who I guess she views as her sisters, not her children, Artemis isn't the motherly type."

"Oh. Okay. So when do we eat? I need food!"

Vanida laughed.

"Just say what you want. It used to be different, but we took inspiration from our friends the romans. Watch. Pepperoni pizza and lemonade!" she said, and miraculously, the food appeared on her plate.

"Um… spanikopita and pesto pasta and water, I guess. Oh! Lemon loaf."

The food appeared. Vanida laughed at Kat's awed expression.

"Eat."

Kat dug in. It was the most delicious thing she had had in her life. The spanikopita was the perfect amount of crispy and soft, the pesto was flavorful and buttery, and the lemon loaf was moist and that perfect mixture of sweet and sour. The water was water.

"I'm going to get fat." Kat said. "I swear. Ohmygosh this is amazing!" She finished her last bite of the lemon loaf, and pushed her plate away.

Then a centaur trotted into the raised end of the pavilion.

"What the…"

"Shhhh. That's just Chiron. He's going to make the usual announcements."

"Good evening. Today we will be having our regular campfire, plus s'mores, but before that starts I would like to acknowledge our new camper, Akaterine."

"Stand up." Vanida hissed in her ear.

Embarrassed, Kat stood. She could feel the stares of everyone in the pavilion on her back. She sat down quickly as possible.

"Thank you. In a moment we can proceed to our campfire. Tomorrow we will have our weekly game of capture the flag, with Athena's cabin holding the laurels-"

A cheer rose up from the Athena table.

"-But now to the campfire!"

There was a scraping and grating as the benches at all the tables were pushed back, and talking and laughing, all the campers filed out into an amphitheater with a huge bonfire at the centre that was burning a bright gold.

They were in the middle of a hilarious rendition of a song about somebody's grandma and her armour when things went downhill.

 **Et voila! Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So! Another chapter! Yay me! I finally know what I'm going to do to these innocent demigods... muahaha! Still debating killing her at the end though, kinda like a Zoe Nightshade type of death. IDK yet. But here's the chapter!**

The song teetered out, and stopped as everyone turned to stare at Kat. Whispers swept across the amphitheatre, quickly turning to a babble of confusion.

"What? What's wrong?" Kat asked Vanida. She was staring in horror st something above Kat's head.

"I think you're… no, it must be something else. Are you a daughter of Artemis?" Vanida asked in confused fear.

"What? What's wrong with my head?" Kat swatted the space above it, hoping to deter any potential animals deciding to nest.

"No… it can't be," Chiron whispered.

"But all signs point to it. Hail, Akaterine Dracos, daughter of Artemis."

"Hail."

"Hail"

"Hail"

The call was echoed by stunned campers, all kneeling as one. The fire had turned a dark orange, no longer golden with the happiness echoed by the mood of the campers. Kat stood alone, all gazes turned on her.

And then the campfire exploded.

Ash and hot coals flew everywhere as they shrieked and scrambled for cover. A heat wave swept over the amphitheatre.

When the ash and dust cleared, a powerful figure was left standing in the pit of coals. Everyone craned their necks to see who it was, and simultaneously kneeled.

"Hermes," Chiron said respectfully. "What brings you here?"

"Well, as I am the messenger of the gods, and am here to deliver news," Hermes said.

"And after some discussion, we have decided to smite-"

With a loud pop, another god appeared. Ares, Kat assumed, as he was extremely fiery and altogether warish.

"We are not smiting anyone!" Ares roared.

Then came Aphrodite.

"No smiting!"

"I thought we were smiting her!" Hermes complained. Then suddenly the amphitheatre was full of gods, all arguing.

Zeus raised his hand for silence, and when he didn't get it, he flicked his wrist. The master bolt, charged and sizzling with deadly energy appeared in his hand. Then there was silence.

"There will be no smiting!" Zeus declared.

There was a collective "awwwww!" from Hermes, Athena, Dionysus, and Hera.

"Majority states that the daughter of Artemis can live," Zeus continued, "But Artemis has broken her sacred vow. I think we should stick her in Tartarus!"

"Oooh!" Hermes exclaimed, and was shushed by Hephaestus.

"What if I don't want to go to Tartarus?" A voice on the other side of the amphitheatre rose in indignation, and Kat craned her neck, for this must have been Artemis!

Zeus snapped his fingers, and the voice was silenced.

"Okay, so she's in in Tartarus now," he said. There were some complaints from Aphrodite and Ares, but they dwindled down as Zeus turned his stormy gaze upon them.

"If the girl wants to save her mother, she can. She can go to Tartarus, and rescue Artemis. If she fails, she will be dead-"

He paused as Hermes gave a small cheer.

"And then I will go and fetch Artemis myself. So I believe that traditions require a quest, with three members, and a prophecy."

He snapped his fingers, and a middle-aged woman wearing jeans and a Coldplay t-shirt appeared next to Kat. She shrieked, brandishing a dishtowel that she was holding, and then appeared to recognize her surroundings.

"Chiron?" she asked. "What is the meaning of all of this?"

He sighed. "We require a prophecy. Rachel, could you…"

"Of course." she closed her eyes, and toppled over backwards. Kat caught her, and laid her down on a bench.

"Is she okay?" she asked Vanida, and then shrieked as Rachel sat up, green smoke curling from her mouth. She opened her eyes, and they were glowing green.

"You shall cross the land of death with friends you must trust,

And then your body consumed by dust,

Break the net of promises become lies,

And a hero accursed by the Styx then dies."

Chiron shifted uncomfortably in his false wheelchair. The gods, duty done, vanished, presumably to head back to Olympus.

"So…" he said awkwardly. "It appears we have a quest! Traditions or rules state that Akaterine can choose any two companions. Are there any volunteers?"

Vanida raised her hand, and from across the amphitheatre, Jeremy did too.

"Vanida and Jeremy…" Kat said. "Thank you."

"We will require a head counsellors meeting," Chiron said. "So if the heads of the cabins could all gather in the big house, and Vanida and Jeremy, that would be much appreciated."

A few campers stood up and headed towards the large farmhouse. Kat went with then, Vanida clutching her hand tightly.

"You okay?" she whispered. Kat nodded.

"You?'

"Yeah…"

They trudged up the steps of the big house, and went in to find everyone sitting around an old, beat up ping-pong table. Kat sat down, and traced her fingers over initials carved into the wood; PJ + AC.

"Okay, so if everyone could quiet down- Chanhassen, stop making those daisies grow out of Hayley's nose- thank you, let the meeting commence. Are there any suggestions for places to start?"

"The land of death is obviously the underworld, so Central Park." said a stocky girl with a flaming skull tattoo on her bicep. She was not someone that Kat wanted to mess with.

"Thank you, Gerta," Chiron said. "Anybody got anything else? Even I, with my endless wisdom have no idea what will happen. And hopefully our friend Akaterine can cheat fate, because if I'm not mistaken, she is the hero accursed by the Styx. Well, I think that about wraps up! You depart tomorrow morning for Central Park. I would suggest packing."

Everyone left but Kat, Vanida, and Jeremy. They were left in stunned silence.

"Well, I guess this is it, then," Kat said. "I'm going to die. Thank you in advance for coming with me."

Jeremy patted her on the back, and kat's skin tingled where he had touched her. Gods, he was hot.

"Don't worry, Kat. We'll get through this with you."

She smiled. "Thanks."

"Whooo, turn down the flirting level in here!" Vanida said, and Jeremy yanked his hand off Kat's shoulders.

"He wasn't-" Kat began, and then stopped. "Nevermind. I guess we should pack and then regroup in the morning. Come to my cabin, I'll be the only one there, so we won't wake anyone."

They all headed off in their separate directions.

Kat headed to the Artemis cabin, which was made of a silvery stone and had a pale glow around it. Cautiously she opened the door, and smiled. It was perfect. At the back of the room there were huge bay windows, looking out over the lake. The floor was adorned with a light blue, star-speckled rug, upon which sat a bunkbed. It was lit by a crackling fire, and Kat could see her clothes and belongings all in or on a chest of drawers. In the corner sat a duffel bag, and Kat closed her cabin door, feeling peaceful for the first time in ages.

She rooted through the chest of drawers, picking out her two favorite shirts, jeans, shorts, iPod, and earbuds. She shoved them all into her bag, and zipped it up, resting it by the door. Kat changed into her pyjamas, brushed her teeth and hair, and crawled into bed. Tomorrow would be rough, but she was happy to enjoy some peace at what would be her home, if she survived.

Kat closed her eyes, and, clutching her stuffed dragon, fell asleep

 **ET VOILA! I don't know when I'll update next, but hopefully soon.**

 **xoxo,**

 **Cress070**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heylo! Here is chapter five! I thought I had posted a bunch of this, that's why it took so long to update.**

A knock on her door woke her, and she scrambled out of bed, almost falling off the ladder. She grabbed her bathrobe and wrapped it around her, hoping she looked presentable and that it wasn't Jeremy.

"Come in?" she called hesitantly, and Vanida's head popped through the door.

"Hey Kat!" she said. "You look… very tired."

Kat laughed. "I just got up. Like, _just_."

"Oh sorry, did I wake you up?" Vanida asked. Kat nodded, shrugging.

"I would have overslept if you hadn't, and then missed my own quest. Give me a minute to get ready and I'll be right out."

"Sure."

Kat grabbed her orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a pair of cutoff jean shorts, running them into the bathroom. She tugged them on, and ran a brush through her long hair, braiding it. Quickly, she brushed her teeth and scrubbed her face clean, then dashed outside again.

"Ready!"

"Cool. I got your stuff ready for you." Vanida handed her a stuffed duffel bag and her bow and quiver.

"The Hermes cabin looted the camp store, so we have some toiletries and things, plus a few drachmas and $100 in mortal money. Jeremy's outside, I exiled him there while you were getting ready."

"Okay." Kay slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder and grabbed her duffel bag in one hand.

"Let's go, then."

Jeremy smiled when Kat walked through the door.

"You look nice, " he said, blushing.

"Thanks." Kat turned red as Vanida nudged her.

"Um. So how are we getting there?" she asked.

Vanida pointed up a hill, next to a huge pine tree. A road led down and away into the distance, and on top of the hill was a man with a white truck reading 'Delphi Strawberry Service'

"Oh, good. I was afraid we were going to have to walk all the way." Kat said, smiling.

"No, oh my gosh that's like a million miles!" Vanida exclaimed as they were walking up the hill.

"And I hate walking!" She shook her head.

"Yeah, I don't mind walking short distances but hiking with a purpose.. Like you know how if you're on a nature hike to nowhere it's all nice, but then you walk to, like, the supermarket that's a good twenty minute walk and it's like ugh even though the hike was longer and it's just… the difference!" Kat said. She tended to rant like that sometimes.

Jeremy, who had been humming, (Kat always loved humming. She would have to stop liking everything that Jeremy did) nodded.

"Exactly!" he said. "Walking with a purpose is so stressful, and somehow tiring."

"This is a strange conversation, I just noticed." Kat said.

"Hi, Argus!" Vanida chirped, and Kat staggered back. Argus was a middle-aged man with a good tan and blond hair. Not to mention the eyeballs all over his body, or anything. No, they definitely deserved a mention. They were blue, and everywhere. He had the normal two, and then about a hundred more, all over his arms, and legs, and peeking out from behind his ears… Kat assumed he made the 'eyes in the back of the head' analogy reality.

"Oh- I- Sorry," she stammered. "I'm just not used to everything I see here yet."

Argus shrugged, and opened the door of his van. They all climbed in, and were soon on their way.

"So, Vanida," she asked. "Who are your parents?"

Vanida flinched. "That's not a question we usually ask around here," she said.

"Oh. Sorry. Um…" Kat stared out the window.

"Who are your parents?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, my mom is Artemis, and my dad is… well, he's my dad. We lived on a Greek island, and I went to school there. Before I left I was supposed to be handing a major report, actually, but then I just… had to go. It was about Taylor Swift, the country singer." Kat began. She didn't know why she was talking about nothing. Maybe it was just because of the awkward silence between her and Vanida.

"Yeah, I know her," Jeremy said.

"Yeah. Anyways, It took me ages, and I had a really nice poster, and my friend did hers on Johnny Cash. She had a really cool poster, did it in gold sharpie on a black background. Jack Cash was Johnny cash's brother, and he died in a tablesaw accident. We just spent ages imagining how it could have happened."  
"Oh, because that's not disturbing," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, exactly," Kat laughed. "Anyways, he was about seven when it happened, which is sad, but also a bit ironic. 'Oh, I'm just going to let my kid play with this huge saw. What, Barbara, you haven't seen him for hours? Well, I'm sure he's fine…'" Kat put on a snobby voice, giggling. Jeremy chuckled.

"...and then they opened the barn door and Jack. Was. Everywhere!" She ended by dramatically flinging open her arms, laughing.

Jeremy laughed with her, trailing his fingers on her arm, leaving warm tingles everywhere they touched.

"Morbid, but funny. Gods, that's dark, Kat." Vanida was laughing now too.

"It's probably wrong that it's funny, but… hey, it's a school project, so we need to not die of boredom." Kat said, smiling.

"Fair enough," Jeremy said. "Are we there yet, Argus?" he asked.

The eye man (that was what Kat was privately thinking of him as) shook his many-eyed head.

"Ugh." Jeremy groaned. "Well. Kat, I'm going to interrogate you now."

She smiled uneasily. "Okay, no torture weapons though..."

He laughed. "I just want to get to know you better. Me and Vanida have known eachother since we were kids, so I know her." he leaned towards her, and Kat blushed. "So now I want to know you."

"Whooooo, Jeres! It's hot in here-" he clapped a hand over Vanida's mouth, and in the front seat, Argus smiled.

"One… favorite colour?"

"Teal." Kat answered immediately. There had been this book with this character that she had fallen madly in love with. It was a long story.

"Talents?"

"Um… I can breathe."

Jeremy tilted his handsome head to the side. Wait, no- not handsome...

"Awww, c'mon. You must have some talent."

"Well, I play the piano, and I draw stuff, and I guess I can sing?"

"Sing something for me." Jeremy demanded.

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Kat said.

"Yeah, Kat, sing something!" Vanida chimed in.

She swallowed her embarrassment. "Fine. What should I…"

Vanida shoved her phone in Kat's face. "Do you know this one?"

Kat, crosseyed, did her best to read the letters floating around the screen. Side to Side by Ariana Grande.

"Um…. yeees?"

"Okay, great." Vanida hit play and the beat came popping out of the small phone.

"I've been here all night," Kat began quietly, and then her powerful voice grew louder.

"I've been here all day," Da da ba... bup! The beat flew through Kat's veins.

"Well boy, and you got me walking side to side." She sang the tricky run of legato notes on 'boy' with relish, enjoying her voice with backup music. She usually only sang in the shower.

Vanida hit pause.  
"Oh, sorry. Was I not good?" Kat asked. Now that the music was gone, she was embarrassed.

"No, Kat, you were… so... Wow!" Jeremy was staring at her in awe. She blushed.

"You are amazing!" Vanida said."We could totally do a duet. I'm a daughter of Apollo, so that's why I can sing. Maybe Artemis and Apollo both got it."

"Well, there's your talent." Jeremy said. "Mine's sweet-talking monsters so they don't eat me. At least, not until I can figure out how to kill them."

"Well then, I'm glad you're on this quest." Kat said. She carefully touched the back of his hand with her fingers, not sure how he would react.

He flipped his palm over and grasped her slim fingers, strategically averting his eyes. Kat felt a thrill of happiness.

"We're here," Argus whispered.

 **Thank you for reading! This chapter didn't really have a lot of action, sorry, but it's what I had at the moment.**

 **xoxo,**

 **Cress070**

 **PS. reviews anybody?**


	6. Chapter 6

**HI! Guess who just updated... ME! Haha great guess okay okay moving on. I didn't update for six months! Actually less. Wait, less? lemme count. ...**

 **Oh well, I can't remember when I started. Enjoy!**

"Oh." Kat felt dread hit her like a punch straight to the stomach. Suddenly everything seemed horribly, awfully, real. Almost like when she had agreed to this quest she hadn't believed that it would ever truly happen. And now, here she was. Standing outside the entrance to the land of the dead.

"Are you okay?" Vanida placed a hand on Kat's shaking shoulders.

She straightened from her hunched position. If she was going to get through this, she would have to be strong.

"Yeah, it's just… all hitting me at once." she whispered.

"I know." Vanida said comfortingly. "That happened to me on my first quest."

"Yeah, Kat, don't worry." Jeremy said, joining the Comfort Kat Group. "We'll get through this together.

She took in a deep breath of the early-morning air.

"Let's go. Gods, that was corny." They all laughed, despite the nerves. Maybe because of the nerves. They all walked away from the van. Away from their last connections to the camp.

"So we're looking for a large pile of rocks by a pond." Jeremy said. "That was where Orpheus got into the underworld, so in theory-" a glint of water appeared between the trees. They veered towards it. "- we could get in the same way. But…" he smirked, devilishly handsome. "You two will have to sing our way in."

"Why not you?" Kat asked. "We might coerce some songs out of your throat. That sounded dark." She laughed nervously.

"Yeah, Jeres. You sing us in." Vanida teased.

He smirked. "Okay. AND IIIIIIII WILLLL ALLLWAYYYSSS LOOOOVEEE YOOOOUUUUU!"

"AUGH!" Vanida screamed. "Make it stop!"

"Oh my gods Jeremy, you are so bad!" Kat exclaimed. He fell over laughing, and Kat joined him.

"Vanida rolled her eyes, smiling, and then all joy drained from her face.

"Guys." She nudged Kat with her foot. " _Guys!_ "

Kat scrambled to her feet, and pulled Jeremy up. Just in time for a pair of huge, thick arms to wrench Vanida right off the ground. A huge cyclops, one eye glinting murderously, with hairy, muscled arms. To Kat's horror, he brought his hand towards his huge, gaping mouth.

In one motion, feeling practiced, although it wasn't, Kat swung her bow off her back, plucked an arrow from her quiver, and nocked it.

She brought her arm down in order to run better, and tore across the dewy grass, Jeremy in tow, to rescue Vanida. The cyclops opened his wet, disgusting mouth wide, and-

An arrow, opalescent in quality, flew through the air, and instead of Vanida for breakfast, the cyclops got an arrow down his throat.

He disintegrated, and Vanida fell through the air, landing on her arm. The snap echoed across the field as Kat and Jeremy rushed towards her.

"Are you okay?" Kat whispered, her hands fluttering over Vanida, not knowing what to do.

She grimaced and nodded, sitting up. She tried not to show it, but Kat could see that the effort left her in excruciating pain.

"Vanida! We need some ambrosia-" Jeremy rummaged through his backpack, and pulled out a broken square, smiling triumphantly.

He eased her into an upright position, and cradling her head, fed the ambrosia to her. She sighed in relief, her pain visibly diminished, and stood. She was still cradling her arm against her chest.

"Thanks, Jeremy. Could I have some more?"

He shook his head. 'No, you'll burn up or something…"

"But it hurts…" she whined. "Please?"

He rolled his eyes and handed her another piece. She swallowed it quickly, and slowly straightened her arm.

"You okay now?" Kat asked her.

She nodded. "All better!" She twisted her arm experimentally. "Ouch." she winced slightly, but brushed off. "Yep, mostly."

"Well, then. Back on track and we need a cave thing so…" Kat pointed to a pile of rocks.

"Let's sing to some boulders."

They trudged through the dewy grass, shoes soaked almost instantaneously. The entrance to the underworld was large, and the rocks were wet with the morning's dew that the sun had still failed to burn off.

Kat bent down towards the rocks, so close that her nose was practically touching them, and noticed a crack running down the centre. She trailed her fingers along it, and somehow it felt cold, colder then the rest of the soaked rocks.

"This must be it." she said, straightening up.

"Good. What are we singing?" Vanida asked.

"Ohhh, um… something underworldly!" Kat said. "Um… that chandelier one by Sia? I mean, It's not really dark, but the music video seems like it. Do you know that one?"

"Yes! I loved it, but the video creeped me out, you're right. Jeremy, could you maybe get a karaoke version?"

Jeremy nodded. "Sure, one second…" he whipped out his phone, and started typing into it.

"Okay, so Vanida, before we begin, I just started this singing whatever thing, like, I really am a beginner at this, so…" she shrugged.

"Aw, don't worry. You just do the melody, you'll be fine. I can do harmonies."

"Okay, I found one!" Jeremy said. "Here."

He held up his phone, and turned the music up all the way.

" _Party girls don't get hurt,_

 _Can't feel anything, when will I learn_

 _I push it down, push it down…"_

They sung in perfect unison, Vanida's harmonies even quieting the birds. Kat smiled as a squirrel stopped climbing a tree and skittered down onto the ground.

" _I wanna swing from the chandelier,_

 _From the chandelier…"_

They were now, by this time, nearly finished the song. Jeremy's arm holding his phone went slack, for the world had never before heard a daughter of Artemis and a daughter of Apollo singing a duet. It was the most beautiful thing the world had ever heard, except of course the god himself. And Whitney Houston. But that wasn't strictly fair, because she was also a daughter of Apollo with muse blood thrown in as well.

The song ended, and they stopped singing. The rocks hadn't budged, despite the beautiful singing.

"Stupid rocks. I've always said they had no taste." Jeremy said, kicking them. He smiled. "Try a different song. Orpheus got in by singing about love, right? Try that Hallelujah one."

"Oh, I know that one!" Kat said, but Vanida was confused.

"I don't… You'll have to do this yourself. Sorry." Vanida shrugged.

"Okay. You could probably-"

"Sing in a few harmonies, yeah." Vanida said. "I'll do that."

" _Now I've heard that there was a secret chord,_

 _That David played and it pleased the lord,_

 _But you don't really care for music, do ya."_

It wasn't quite as spectacular as the previous duet, but the rocks, ageless in their slumber, began to awake, for a voice that reminded them of Orpheus was calling them, a voice begging them to let them through. And the rock awoke.

Slowly at first, but then frigid air blew through the tunnel they had revealed, and there was the entrance to the land of the dead.

"Well, thanks Jeremy. " Kat said swallowing. "That was a helpful suggestion, but I think we're going to die now."

He smiled, for laughing had seemed to be the way they were going to get through this, and motioned towards the entrance.

"Ladies first."

Kat took a step into the cave. And another. And another. It was dark, very, very, dark. She could hear Vanida behind her, and Jeremy bringing up the rear, but she couldn't see a thing.

"Do we have a flashlight or something?" Vanida called back to Jeremy. "It's really dark, in case you hadn't-"

A light flared behind her, effectively cutting her off.

"Oh. Thanks."

"Is this it?" Vanida's voice was soft in the ever-darkening cave. By now, it was so black that the only light visible was the beam of vanida's flashlight.

"Yes. This is it. We are walking into the underworld, so it's probably going to be dark." Kat said. "Now shush. I'm trying to listen, because I can't see."

"Okay."

It was very, very dark, and very, very quiet. The only sound was their footsteps, three pairs of shoes treading into the land of the dead. The tunnel stretched ahead of them, very dark. Very quiet. Kat strained her ears, listening for signs of civilization, and she could hear whispers if she imagined them.

They kept walking, and now she didn't know how much time had passed. An hour? Minutes? Days?

She heard a click behind her, and Kat gasped, spinning around in the pitch black.

"What happened?"

"My flashlight died," came Vanida's voice, very close behind her. Kat stretched out her arms, and found something warm. Warm and not Vanida.

She screamed, and the thing, whatever it was, growled. It leaped at her, and she was knocked to the ground, the breath knocked out of her.

"Jeremy! Vanida!" she screamed, her throat tearing inside. "Help!"

She tried desperately to drag herself away from the beast, but she felt slavering jaws wrap around her, and she was carried away.

 **And then she died. Or maybe not. See you again in another few months or until I feel inspired! Sorry. hey, could I get a review? I would feel very appreciated.**


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